The presence of Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha really made me think this would be a comedy, so I was surprised to find a very serious drama about faith, family, and identity. Eisenberg plays Sam Gold, a twenty year-old Orthodox Jew studying to be a rabbi and hoping for a good woman to marry. When the family of the girl he desires turns down Sam’s family, he perceives that it is because of their lack of material success. Frustrated, he and his friend Leon (Jason Fuchs) are recruited by Leon’s ne’er-do-well brother Yosef (Bartha) to smuggle medication into the United States from Amsterdam. Upon their arrival in the States, Sam and Leon discover that they have smuggled in pure MDMA (Ecstacy) instead of the expensive prescription medication they thought they were carrying. Leon disowns his Yosef, but Sam is soon seduced into that world by Yosef, his boss Jackie (Danny Abeckaser), and Jackie’s girlfriend Rachel (Ari Graynor). Sam becomes a reliable mule, but his new line of work places great strain on his family.
Like I said, it’s a lot more serious than I anticipated. Sam is confronted with two serious relationship issues: the first is with his father, Mendel (Mark Ivanir), who insists that Sam continue with his studies, become a respectable rabbi, and his marriage will come; the second is with Rachel, who provides the temptation of physical and romantic love outside of marriage. Sam is also experiencing a crisis of faith. Throughout the film, he maintains his Orthodoxy while engaging in illegal behavior, but eventually needs to make a decision about whether he can continue adhering to the tenets of Judaism while engaging in illegal behavior.
3/5
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